Ken Bradley

Ken started his career in boxing at the ripe old age of 15 in 1956 when he put his name down for trials for the Olympic Games. Ken fought many fights as an amateur before he became professional. He was amateur champion for four years, winning 102 matches before taking time out and then returning as a professional.

The pinnacle of Ken’s career was the winning of the Australian Featherweight Championship in February 1970, seven years after retiring in 1963. This fight will surely go down as one of the most popular in the history of Australian boxing.

Ken’s lead-up to winning the Australian title was pretty impressive, winning both the Australian Amateur Title and the NSW Featherweight Title in 1969.

During his career Ken left the sport for nearly six years due to problems with his knees before returning. Ken is the first boxer to win an Australian championship after a retirement of more than five years. He did not fight from May 1963 to December 1968. This is an Australian record that may never be broken.

He fought whilst as an amateur, to qualify for the Rome Olympics to represent Australia but lost on points in the final. The winner of this bout went on to win the bronze medal in Rome in 1960.

In a boxing career that spanned over forty years Ken had 197 fights, professional and amateur, with just fifteen losses and two draws, and interestingly, of the fifteen losses, he had rematches with thirteen of them and won on a knockout each time.